West of the Pensacola Beach Gulf Fishing Pier the beaches along the 1000 block of Fort Pickens Road are covered with oil Wednesday afternoon.

Written by

Jamie Page
jepage@pnj.com

On Wednesday - the day after BP America's Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles projected oil damage to the Panhandle would be similar to the tar balls already experienced - parts of Pensacola Beach turned black.

For the first time since the Gulf of Mexico oil spill 65 days ago, emulsified oil in large patches stained the sugar-white sand on Pensacola Beach. Large numbers of tar balls continued to roll ashore.

A section of the Gulf along Pensacola Beach - but not the beach itself - was closed to swimming and wading after a health advisory was issued by the Escambia County Health Department. ...